


you're gonna be

by parkrstark



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baby Peter Parker, Hospitals, M/M, Sickfic, Superfamily (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 01:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21365743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkrstark/pseuds/parkrstark
Summary: When Peter was finally strong enough to go home with them, neither wanted to hold him. He was so tiny that Steve was afraid that he’d break his body from his super-soldier strength. Tony had the same fear of breaking him, but not in the same way. He was a baby and babies were so vulnerable and they relied on their parents to protect them. Whenever he looked down at Peter, all he could hear in his head were his father’s words: “You break everything you touch, Anthony.”
Relationships: Peter Parker & Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 9
Kudos: 444





	you're gonna be

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a friend that wanted a Superfamily fic with baby Peter getting sick and Tony feeling overwhelmed with it for the first time. 
> 
> Please, as always, ignore any and all medical inaccuracies.

Tony and Steve knew that in their relationship, having a kid wasn’t going to be easy. Not when they were Iron Man and Captain America. There were a lot of reasons why they shouldn’t bring a child into their lifestyle. There weren’t near as many reasons why they should bring a child into their lifestyle. 

But selfishly, Tony and Steve decided that they wanted to adopt. They wanted to raise a kid of their own and expand their family. It would be a lot more work, but their child was worth it. 

That was how they decided on adopting Peter. He was the cutest baby Tony had ever seen. They adopted him when he was only a few weeks old. He was born prematurely the doctors had said and Tony didn’t doubt it. Not when he saw how tiny he was in the hospital incubator. 

When Peter was finally strong enough to go home with them, neither wanted to hold him. He was so tiny that Steve was afraid that he’d break his body from his super-soldier strength. Tony had the same fear of breaking him, but not in the same way. He was a baby and babies were so vulnerable and they relied on their parents to protect them. Whenever he looked down at Peter, all he could hear in his head were his father’s words:  _ “You break everything you touch, Anthony.”  _

Tony was expected to raise this baby and protect him and provide for him and be a role model for him. He wasn’t cut out for that. Not when all he had to look up to was his father, if he could even call Howard Stark that. 

Peter cried. He cried so loud all the time. His face was always red as he screeched, calling for his parents the only way he knew how. Steve and Tony would stand next to his crib and look down at him as he wailed and kicked his feet. 

Both wanted to comfort him. Neither wanted to hurt him. 

Steve caved first. He leaned over and with the most gentle of hands, he lifted Peter up and cradled him close to his chest. He looked even tinier in Steve’s arms, against his broad chest. Steve was awkward and hesitant at first while Tony stood back and watched. As the days passed and Steve continued to hold him, he grew more comfortable with having the tiny baby in his arms. 

Tony envied the way Steve held him easily now. He wished he could lift Peter up when he was crying or rock him to sleep without worrying about breaking him at every second. He could hold him and he did. Peter liked the light from the arc reactor and Tony was happy to let him marvel at it late at night. 

He didn’t have to ever worry about hugging him too hard like Steve did, but he was always worrying even when he wasn’t holding him. What if Tony wasn’t good enough? What if he failed him? What if he was just like Howard?

He always worried, but never too much. Steve was right there every step of the way. He was there to calm Tony down when he was doubting himself as a father. Steve could fix everything. He was the reason that Tony could hold Peter more and more as the months continued until soon enough, it was natural. 

Steve and Tony joked about how they couldn’t even remember a time when having Peter in their arms was anything other than comforting. 

But of course, they had to face the bad parts of adopting a child along with the good. 

“Tony, you’re going to be fine,” Steve said as he continued packing his duffle bag. 

“This is the first time one of us is leaving him,” Tony argued as he watched helplessly. He wanted Steve to stay. He wanted him to tell Fury to screw off. He wanted them to have a normal life. 

“I know.” Steve paused his packing to come over to Tony and take his hands in his. “I want to stay with my boys too, but we knew this was going to happen when we agreed to this.” 

Tony knew that. It was the biggest downfall to adopting being them. They had life-threatening jobs and sometimes missions were intense week-long operations. Tony could use his suits to send out on missions, but Steve couldn’t do that. And he wasn’t quite ready to hang up the shield yet. He didn’t want to sit around while there were people dying: people that he could save. He needed to keep up the missions with SHIELD. Never too dangerous ones now that he had a son to look after, but still, there would come times when he would have to go out. 

They had put it off for months and Tony forgot that there was going to come a time when Steve would have to go back to work. Not that they couldn’t afford for Steve to quit SHIELD and Tony work from home in Stark Industries. But that wasn’t the life Steve wanted and Tony knew that. He knew that his husband would never be able to sit back and relax when there were people to save. It was one of the many reasons he loved him. 

“You’re better with him,” Tony said, refusing to look up at him when he said that. It wasn’t necessarily true; they each had their strengths and weaknesses when it came to Peter. 

Steve was good with the messy part of taking care of him; Peter only settled when Steve was giving him a bath; Steve was good at chasing Peter around as he crawled around the tower. Tony was good at getting him to sleep when he was up at all hours of the night; Tony was good at getting him to drink his bottle when he was fussy; Tony was good at getting him dressed and changed. 

"You know that's not true, love," Steve said, raising his eyebrows.

"What if something goes wrong? What if I hurt him?" Tony chewed on his lip anxiously. If Peter got hurt while Steve was on his mission, he'd never forgive Tony. Hell, Tony would never forgive himself. 

Despite the gravity of this situation, Steve smiled. "You're not going to hurt him. We've had him for months. He's your son and there's nobody else that I would trust him with." 

"But--." 

"It's only for three days. I'll be back home to you two before you know it." He leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "I'm gonna go say goodbye to the little guy. Hand?" 

Tony took Steve's outstretched hand in his and smiled, feeling a little more relieved. "Hand." 

They walked down the hallway together hand in hand. Tony had gotten used to having him home all the time and he wasn't ready to let him leave yet. 

When they walked into Peter's nursery, they heard him babbling. He was standing up in his crib, holding tightly to the railing as he peeked over the top. He was lifting his head as high as he could, but all they could see over the top was his little button nose and his big brown eyes. When he saw his dads, he let out a loud shriek of happiness. 

Steve took a few steps forward so he could pull Peter from his crib. Peter giggled and kicked his legs as Steve lifted him into the air. “Hello there, my little bear.” He lowered Peter until he could press a dozen quick kisses to his cheeks. 

“Papa! Papa!” Peter reached out to grab Steve’s cheeks. 

Tony smiled at the sight. He loved his boys. He wished he didn’t have to watch him say goodbye. 

“Peter! Peter!” Steve teased. Peter could only say a few words and ‘Papa’ and ‘Dada’ were his favorites. Although, when he first learned to say ‘no’ that was all they heard for weeks. “How are you, sweetie?”

“No!” 

Steve laughed as he settled Peter against his chest. “No, huh?”

“No!” Peter yelled again before hiding his face against Steve’s chest. 

“Well, I’ve got to get to work now, Petey. I just wanted to come say goodbye.” 

Peter snapped his head up with sad eyes. “Bye-bye?”

“Bye-bye,” Steve confirmed. “But only for a few days. You won’t even know I’m gone.” 

Peter wrapped his little arms around Steve’s neck. “No!” 

Tony came forward wrapped both of them in a hug as well. “Yeah. What Peter said. No!” 

Steve chuckled and pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Not you too, love.”

“We’re going to miss you,” Tony said quietly. 

“My boys are so dramatic,” Steve chuckled again before giving Tony another squeeze before stepping back. He rocked Peter a few times before handing him over to Tony. But I love them so much.” 

“Papa,” Peter whined even though he was holding tight onto Tony. 

“Papa will be back soon, baby. I promise.” He rubbed the back of Peter’s head carefully (because babies’ skulls took longer to close up on the top and Steve and Tony were  _ very  _ careful with that). 

“Papa,” Peter said again. 

Steve kissed his forehead and said to Tony, “You’ll be okay. Promise.” 

  
  


Except, when the time came and it was just Peter and Tony...everything was not okay. Well, not at first. At first, they were having a good time. Peter only cried for a bit after Steve left. He wasn’t used to not having both of his dads right there whenever he needed them. 

Tony was pretty sure that Peter knew full well that he was in charge now and decided to wait until Steve was gone to have the stinkiest and messiest diaper he’d had in a while. He smiled up at Tony the entire time he was changing him. Tony gagged the entire way through it and when he was finally done, he said, “You’re a little shit. Papa was right.” He giggled some more. 

After that, it wasn’t too bad. Peter was quieter than normal, but Tony assumed he was just as upset as Tony was that Steve wasn’t around. So they sat on the couch together watching Peter’s cartoons until it was dinner time. But even then, Peter wouldn’t eat more than a few spoonfuls. Tony couldn’t even do what he was good at as a Dad...how was he supposed to take care of everything else?

Realizing that Peter wasn’t going to eat all of his dinner, he took his bib off of him and started to clean off his face. Peter didn’t even try to fight the warm cloth on his face like he loved doing. 

“You wanna come to sleep in bed with me?” Tony asked after he was cleaned up. “Papa isn’t here so I’ve got a lot of room in that big bed of mine.” Peter loved sleepovers, but tonight he didn’t show any other excitement than a small smile. 

He laid down in bed with Peter at his side, ensuring to have pillows stacked by the edge and Peter as from them as possible. Peter was old enough to not worry about him rolling off the bed, but Tony worried anyway. 

Once they were both lying down, Tony rolled on his side to face Peter. Tony missed his incoherent babbling. “You’re being pretty quiet tonight, bubba.” 

Peter only stared at him and blinked tiredly. 

Tony reached over and stuck one of his pointer fingers in Peter’s tiny little fist. Usually, Peter was eager to squeeze his hand right back, but tonight he didn’t. “You feeling okay?” 

“Dada,” Peter whispered in a low voice. 

“That’s me, baby.” Tony smiled and caressed his hand and gently until Peter’s eyes drifted shut and his breathing evened out. He smiled once he was finally asleep and soon followed him. 

He woke up the next morning with Peter by his side, still asleep. Another strange thing because Peter loved waking up early. If he was in bed with Steve and Tony, he would wake them up with his little hands slapping their cheeks. If he was in his room, he would yell until Steve or Tony came in to take him out of the crib. Despite his attempts, he couldn’t learn how to climb out yet. 

Tony reached over and shook Peter gently a few times until he opened his eyes. “Morning, baby boy.” He tucked a few curls behind Peter’s ear. 

Peter let out a low whine and shut his eyes again. 

Tony frowned. “Petey, are you okay?” When he brushed his finger over his forehead to move some more curls, he felt his skin burning up. “Okay, baby, let’s check out your temperature.” 

He lifted him up and winced at how hot he was. He carried him over to the bathroom where he kept Peter’s baby thermometer. He stuck it in his mouth under his tongue and waited until it beeped before pulling it out. 

Peter barely made any sound of protest as Tony read the numbers. “103.4.” That was not good. “JARVIS, can you call Steve for me?” He didn’t know what to do. Of course, the first time Steve was gone, this happened. 

After a few moments, JARVIS responded,  _ “I’m sorry, but he is not picking up, sir.”  _

Of course, he wasn’t picking up. He was on a mission. Tony sighed and said, “Call Peter’s pediatrician then.” Steve probably would have told him to do the same thing if he picked up, but Tony wanted to hear Steve’s voice to calm him down even slightly. 

While Tony was on the phone with his pediatrician, trying not to freak out, he was trying his best to get any sort of reaction from Peter. It didn’t work. While Tony had him curled against his chest, he started to drift back to sleep. Tony could feel the heat radiating off of Peter’s body as he hurried through the tower. 

By the end of the call, Peter’s doctor said that because the temperature was so high, he should be taken to the emergency room as soon as he could. He had Peter wrapped up in his blanket even though he was burning up because Peter loved that blanket and he was starting to cry from discomfort. 

Tony made three more calls to Steve, all of which went right to voicemail. He left messages each time, each of them growing more frantic than the last. “It’s alright, kiddo,” Tony said, really trying to just calm himself down with that. It didn’t work. 

He was only even more panicked when he got to the emergency room. He knew he probably looked insane as he hurried inside with Peter bundled in his arms. The first doctor that stopped him didn’t even open her mouth before Tony was saying, “Stark. Tony Rogers-Stark. Called ahead. This is Peter. My son. My baby.” He could barely form a coherent sentence. 

“Follow us this way,” a woman said, putting a hand on his back. 

“Can you help him?” 

“We can. Just follow us.” Her voice wasn’t harsh, but she wasn’t gentle either. Tony just wanted Steve. He would be the best at calming Tony down. 

“He fell asleep in the car and I couldn’t wake him up when we got here. Please,” Tony started to beg. “Please wake him.” 

The woman reached over and tried to take Peter from his hold, but Tony didn’t let go. Even if he wanted to, his hands wouldn’t. He didn’t anyone else to hold his baby. “You have to let me take him so I can check him out.” 

Hesitantly, Tony let her take Peter from his arms. “You can help?”

“I can,” she confirmed, hurrying forward as Tony followed behind her closely. “Just follow me into this room and we will see what this fever is all about.”

Tony followed her in and watched her lay Peter down. She called him over to help comfort Peter when he blinked his eyes open and started to cry. “Dada! Papa!” He was squirming on the bed, crying out loud enough to break Tony from his daze. 

He rushed to his side and brushes his hand through his sweaty hair. He kneeled so he was level with Peter and could press a kiss to his forehead. “You’re okay, baby. You’re okay. Daddy’s right here.” 

Peter continued to cry and Tony felt his own tears falling. 

“Papa will be here soon, don’t worry. He’s gonna make everything better. I promise.” 

_ Please, Steve. Come home soon.  _

* * *

It turned out to be a bad fever. They wanted to keep him overnight to keep an eye on him in case the fever spiked. They brought it down to 102.1 and were working on getting it lower. For now, all Tony had to do was sit with Peter and keep an eye on him. 

Well, he didn’t  _ have  _ to, but he wanted to. He felt that it was his duty as his father to be by his side when he was sick. Especially if he was the one that was supposed to be caring for him when he ended up in here. 

Peter was sleeping again, which Tony was thankful for. As much as he missed seeing Peter’s big brown eyes, he didn’t want to see them until they were full of life. His normal Peter. This wasn’t his normal Peter. 

Tony kissed his forehead again and didn’t pull his lips away. He kept them there, even though his skin was burning his lips. He let his eyes flutter shut and listened to Peter’s soft breathing. 

“There are my boys.” 

Tony snapped his head up to stare at the doorway. “Steve,” Tony said in disbelief. “What are you doing here?” 

Steve walked into the room, still dressed in his Captain America uniform. His hair was tousled from the helmet hair. In any other circumstance, Tony would have stopped to stare at how adorable he looked. But now was not the time. 

“I checked my phone the minute I could and came home. I’m sorry it took me so long. I basically jumped from the Quinjet when Nat flew us over.” He chuckled nervously, but it sounded nothing but forced. 

Tony wanted to stand up and meet Steve halfway, but he was cemented to his spot. “No, I’m the one that should be sorry. Peter’s in the hospital and it’s my fault--.” 

“Hey, woah, no…” Steve kneeled down next to him and wrapped one arm around him and used the other to rub Peter’s arm gently. “You’re not to blame just because Peter’s sick. I spoke with his doctor and this is normal. Babies get sick...Peter’s just a little extra fragile.” 

“I know he is. Which is why I should be extra--.”

“He’s a baby, Tony. His immune system is still weak. You can’t control what gets him sick. And even though he did get sick when you were the only one there doesn’t mean it was in any way your fault and besides, you did a great job at taking care of him while I was gone.” Steve pulled Tony in closer so that he could rest his head on Steve’s shoulder. 

Tony clung to him and the comfort he gave even in just his hold. “When I see him like this...I just think about when he was first born and he was so small and so sick. They didn’t know if he was going to make it--.” 

Steve moved his hand to cup Tony’s cheek and turn his face towards Steve’s. Then he leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. “Don’t think about that, love. He’s okay. He lived through it. He’s our tough little cookie.” He was smiling even though there were tears in his eyes. “Our baby isn’t going anywhere. Not when he’s got me and you looking out for him.” 

Tony found himself smiling too. “I’d do anything for that kid.” 

When Steve laughed this time, it actually sounded like he was amused. “Yeah, me too. All part of being a dad, huh?” 

“Guess so.” Tony glanced over to Peter and shook his head. “I could do without a scare like this, though.” 

“Yeah,” Steve said, his voice shaking. “This is pretty scary. But he’s gonna fight it.” He took Tony’s hand and squeezed it. “And we’re gonna be right by his side the entire time.” 


End file.
